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Carl Hall [undated]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Headquarters Company, 383rd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Leyte Island (Philippines); Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands)
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/27180

View full service history

"Veterans should not be mute about history. It breeds blind generations of destructive dreamers who have learned nothing from the scars of those who were mute." (Memoir, page 78)

Infantry Corporal Carl Hall wrote a stunning memoir of his experiences on Okinawa, by far the bloodiest invasion in the Pacific Theater of World War II. His illustrations and written imagery complement each other. The paintings and sketches only hint at the intensity of Hall's prose, which throbs with urgency, bitterness, and dread. For Hall and many other GIs, Okinawa was "the island of fear," as stubborn Japanese forces, aided by a civilian population convinced that victorious Americans would slaughter them, dug in and refused to surrender.

[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

[ The Broken Urn: Okinawa Interlude ]
[ Drawing "Radio man being pulled from mud on Leyte Island ]
[ Drawing "Swamp on Leyte Island" ]
[ Drawing "Mud on Leyte Island" ]
[ Drawing "The island of Okinawa" ]
[ Drawing "Wounded" ]

Show more resources (11)

[ Drawing "Devastation" ]
[ Drawing "An Okinawan Village" ]
[ Drawing "Gauze" ]
[ Drawing "Koza Village" ]
[ Drawing "Koza Village" [Color] ]
[ Drawing "Eastern Slope of Conical Peak" ]
[ Drawing "Conical Peak, West Escarpment" ]
[ Drawing "Yuza Dake Escarpment" ]
[ Drawing "We Are Tired" ]
[ Drawing "Kakazu Ridge" ]
[ Drawing "Crawling Soldier" ]

About this Item

Title

  • Carl Albin Hall Collection

Names

  • Traver, Sheldon
  • Hall, Carl Albin
  • Holiday Retirement Corporation

Home State

  • Oregon

Headings

  • -  Hall, Carl Albin
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Headquarters Company, 383rd Infantry Regiment, 96th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Leyte Island (Philippines); Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands)
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Other Manuscript Material [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected 2004)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/27180

Cite as

  • Carl Albin Hall Collection (AFC/2001/001/27180), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Traver, Sheldon, Carl Albin Hall, and Holiday Retirement Corporation. Carl Albin Hall Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.27180/.

APA citation style:

Traver, S., Hall, C. A. & Holiday Retirement Corporation. (1942) Carl Albin Hall Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.27180/.

MLA citation style:

Traver, Sheldon, Carl Albin Hall, and Holiday Retirement Corporation. Carl Albin Hall Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.27180/>.